EXPLORE / MAKING
Woodblock printing
An image carved in relief, printed from wood onto paper. Each colour can require a separate block, carefully aligned with the others.
THE TOOLKIT
Carved wooden blocks · pigment · paper · baren
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Look at how edges, flat colours and repeated marks shape the image. Consider the collaboration between designer, carver and printer.
READ FURTHERMuseum learning resource ↗
A simplified process; practices vary across places and periods.
From material to image.
- 01
Draw the design
- 02
Carve the raised image
- 03
Ink the block
- 04
Align and print
Find it in the collection
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · early 1830s
South Wind, Clear Sky, from Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · 1833
Driving Rain at Shōno, from Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaidō
Utagawa Hiroshige
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · c. 1793
The Flirtatious Type, from Ten Types in the Physiognomy of Women
Kitagawa Utamaro
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · c. 1830
A Low Tide Pentaptych
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · late 1790s
Cherry Blossoms in the Wind
Utagawa Toyokuni
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · early 1830s
Rain Below the Mountain (from the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji)
Katsushika Hokusai
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · 1835–36
Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki from the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets Explained by the Nurse
Katsushika Hokusai
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · 1857
The Moon-Viewing Promontory, from One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo
Utagawa Hiroshige
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · 1857
Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake, from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Utagawa Hiroshige
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · c. 1798
Takigawa of the Ōgiya from the series A Selection of Eastern Beauties
Kitagawa Utamaro
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · c. 1796–97
Catching Fireflies Beneath a Willow Tree (left)
Kitagawa Utamaro
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · 1854
Splendid View at Futamigaura Bay
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · early 1830s
Ōmori, from the series Famous Places in the Eastern Capital
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · c. 1793–97
Hinazura of Chōjiya from the series Beauties as the Seven Komachi
Utagawa Toyokuni